caught a rise

We are embroiled

in a time of existential threats,

among which we find the current

POTUS who seems to enjoy

apocalyptic chaos that improves

his ratings.

 

 

 

caught a rise

 

 

Anger is a response to pain.

Sometimes that pain is about

deflecting shame of embarrassment.

Sometimes that pain is about

long festering wounds that never scab over,

maybe quiet for a time,

then that new wrong reminds you,

exhumes intensity.

Sometimes it's here and now

cutting, searing, concussing, contusing,

abusing, denying you as human, or

demanding tribute you can't afford.

Brandish that angry sword to express,

transmute what you can no longer

endure as pain.

 

 

 

Give up the concept of normal

-- a word without real world reference:

We live in a state of change.

 

 

 

There are no perfect leaders

(what would that even mean?)

but certainly some are concerned

with the needs of the people,

while others are paramountly

concerned with themselves.

 

 

Identity is made of memories,

fluid, not static

 

 

 

People need to be positively seen

to feel okay in a frightening world.

 

 

 

Anger can be a burden, but also

an inspiration to discover succor

and possible solutions to act toward,

to mitigate your pain.

what has risen

You folk who like to say

You're woke --

All I want to do is sleep,

to dream a better world.

 

 

 

Ready, willing to sacrifice

others' lives implies

lack of value, of respect

for one's own.

My deep core of hatred,

shattered, taped together

mirror reflection of my self-derision.

Raised by love as pain, as rejection

without explanation, as lonely

yearning, turning, churning,

denying health as undeserved.

How insane our world to give

such power of decision to hopeless

battered children driven by self-denial.

 

 

4/5-12/20

Healing through Dance

Healing through Dance


La danse, c'est le mouvement, et 
le mouvement, c'est la vie.
("Dance is movement, and movement is life.")
--Ludmilla Chiriaeff (Founder, 
 Les Grands Ballets Canadiens)

What is is about dancing, in a group, with an 
intimate other, or alone, that can give us 
that mystical rush and promote wellness on 
so many levels? Is it the pre-cognitive memory 
of the rhythm of the heartbeat keeping us safe? 
Is it the emotional-spiritual connection to the 
natural world we feel when moving pleasurably 
in our animal body? Is it some atavistic source 
of healing from our primal days?
This is my quest -- to discover the healing 
properties of dance and how to best use and 
promote this simplest and most profound gift of
our physical being.

Throughout our history, dancing has functioned 
as a healing and balancing component, a form of 
 social communication and transcendent spiritual 
ritual. Though patterns and forms vary, expressive
rhythmic movement is a very basic means of 
relieving emotional tension and has from the 
beginning been associated with religious ritual 
and healing. We celebrate by dancing at weddings 
and festivals, and join others in dance as the 
quintessential romantic experience. Dancing 
alone, feeling the rhythmic sway and getting in 
touch with the extension and contraction of 
muscles in a pleasurable context, is uplifting, 
healing. 

Dancing definitely helps to bring up my mood 
and promote more sane reflection. When I can 
get so caught up in the dance that I no longer 
feel separate from the music and can move 
within it, it seems to free something very 
profound within me.

I am finding a wide variety of healing modalities, 
spiritual activities and holistic therapies based on 
our natural expression of energies through dance, 
as well as community and individual art projects 
promoting creativity and wholeness.

Most recently I am continuing through a LinkedIn group: 
Healing through Dance.   
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12227388/
I envision a web between the various healing 
dance studies, theories, practitioners and 
proponents through which to find, share 
and expand on my own studies.

foolish

You tell me

the violence of my shame is not my fault

That survival is not a gift belying blame,

insisting anger be drowned in gratitude.

You say my attitude of self-regard

is warrented, is valuable,

as holograph of our larger questioning

of whose pain matters.

 

 

Scapegoating heroes -- elevating crooks

to the delight of crooks who hate heroes

for making them look bad.

 

 

There are no perfect governers

because there are no perfect people

but some are certainly much more

competent and concered with

the needs of the populace

than others.

 

 

3/29-4/1/20